Center At Naper Trails Seeks Growth, Stability

Every day after school, children pour into the Neighborhood Family Resource Center in Naperville, looking for a little help with their homework and a little stability in a chaotic neighborhood.

Housed for three years in a tiny two-bedroom apartment in the heart of the Naper Trails complex, the center has served as a symbol of how a little help can go a long way in turning around a neighborhood.

Lately, children have faced the same chaos inside the center as outside, and the center's stability has been shaken by a steady turnover in coordinators.

Now, the center is poised to shake off those challenges and take another giant step--toward expansion and permanency.

With as many as 30 children attending every day after school, the center has outgrown its space at Bailey Road and Coach Drive, which it rents for $350 a month from the Housing Association of DuPage.

Naperville Police Capt. Robert Marshall, who helped create the center and oversees its operations, said the center will take over a second apartment in the building as soon as space across the hall becomes available.

That will allow the center to add another room for children needing homework help. Now, as many as eight children ages 5 to 11 are crammed into a small bedroom.

"This will be a lifesaver for the center," said Lynne Jones, who was hired late last year as the center's third coordinator. "No one likes to be crowded. By moving, we'll be able to separate the kids by grade level. Our behavior problems will go down; our academics will go up."

The new space also will allow the center to expand its computer program for adults, which is confined to a second bedroom. Demand for the program already is outstripping the space and available computers. The other rooms can be reserved for special activities, health programs and a teen support group.

A patrol division commander, Marshall has asked the Naperville City Council to make the center's part-time coordinator a staff position. The salary of about $25,000 now is paid by a pool of grant money and donations and does not include any benefits.

Marshall said he fears the coordinator turnover will continue until the position includes benefits and steady funding.

"This will give the kids the stability they need to have a coordinator who is going to stay planted for a few years," said Jones.

If the city funds the position, Marshall said the grant money can be used for the extra rent and to expand programs, including the computer classes and park district activities for the children.

Given the progress the center has made in its short life, Marshall does not expect city officials to balk at the request.

The center has been regarded as a shining example of community policing, one the city touted during its quest last year for the All-America City Award.

In the year before the center was created, the 168-unit Naper Trails complex had the highest crime rate in the city. In 1994, there were about 500 calls for service, 110 of which were criminal calls, an increase of more than 45 percent in one year.

In 1994 alone, police were faced with a slaying, a suicide and a resident spraying the complex with rounds from an assault rifle.

When the crime rate stayed high in 1995, Marshall said he knew the Police Department had to attack the cause of the crime rather than just respond to calls.

The center was created and police beefed up their patrols in the complex, reaching out to neighbors and encouraging them to report suspicious activity.

Children found something more constructive to do with their after-school time, and the hard-core troublemakers moved out. Criminal calls started dropping and last year dipped to 83--none of which involved violent crime.

"We knew we needed to do something extraordinary down there," Marshall said. "We've turned it around 100 percent."